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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27301306">A Little Patience Goes A Long Way</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalestAzure/pseuds/PalestAzure'>PalestAzure</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ethan Ramsey, Dad Extraordinaire [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Open Heart (Visual Novels)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fatherhood, Fluff, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:27:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27301306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PalestAzure/pseuds/PalestAzure</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fatherhood is hard, especially when Ethan feels rejected by his own daughter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ethan Ramsey/Main Character (Open Heart)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ethan Ramsey, Dad Extraordinaire [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815364</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Little Patience Goes A Long Way</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story includes ideas based on events and on the results of choices related to Ethan that occurred in Book 2 chapters 1-18.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><p>It had been a few years since Edenbrook was saved from shuttering, and in that time, Ethan went through many changes. The new team member of Aurora Emery, who replaced June Hirata. The generous funding of the diagnostics team thanks to Leland Bloom and him being the hospital’s primary shareholder. The release from Panacea’s contract thanks to the years-long investigation into the company. A committed relationship with Zyra and living with her. Enjoying a beer with Zyra’s friend group once in a while. Having his mother back in his life. </p>
<p>But the most significant change: A baby. </p>
<p>Zyra had been the one to teach him the meaning of unconditional love, but it wasn’t until Jocelyn entered his life that he truly understood it. Between his love for Zyra and his child, Ethan was now a firm believer in the true effects of the heart. And if Ethan ever needed evidence that love existed, all he had to do was look at his newly unexpected family. On most days they were all he needed. </p>
<p>But today, what he needed was work. He needed his patients, his mysteries. He just needed to be in his element. Being a parent was not his element. Joss was almost eight months and Ethan had held high expectations for himself as a father. But most of the time, he didn’t know what he was doing. No number of books or research articles or parenting classes—which Zyra dragged him to—could have ever prepared him enough for what was to come. And what had come was one fussy little girl. She fussed so much in his arms that it only confirmed his own fears about fatherhood: He was a failure at it. </p>
<p>Their usual babysitter was out with a cold, and Ethan’s dad wouldn’t be able to come for another hour to get his granddaughter. Ethan and Zyra decided to take her with them to work until Alan showed up. </p>
<p>After taking Joss out of her carseat, she squirmed in his hold and was on the verge of tears. Her face was scrunched up, her eyes squeezed shut. Her arms flailed with her little hands balled into fists as she waved them in the air, throwing her usual temper tantrum. It was as if she was blaming him for disrupting her comfy time in the car. Such a rejection brought back feelings of being abandoned and ultimately rejected by his mother at a young age. Those same fears and insecurities resurfaced like a sharp pang in his heart. </p>
<p>Zyra came around the car and took Joss, who immediately smiled and giggled. Ethan grabbed the diaper bag from the backseat, while muttering a word not meant for the ears of any child. When he turned around, he was met with a look of pity from his partner.</p>
<p>“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, his voice laced with irritation.</p>
<p>“Ethan, stop being such a sourpuss. We’ll make it work.”</p>
<p>Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. </p>
<p>“Well, if you want to go help out with the interns instead, I’ll take her,” Zyra offered.</p>
<p>Zyra had to assist with the orientation for the new interns. So that had left Ethan, who could complete paperwork in his office while he waited. </p>
<p>“Give me my daughter.”</p>
<p>The moment Zyra parted from them, Joss began to cry, which turned into loud wails that turned heads as Ethan made his way through the corridors and to his office. The unwanted attention only made him more grumpy. When he entered, he saw Baz and Aurora sitting at the conference table. </p>
<p>“Yes, this is a crying baby. And no, we are not discussing it.” </p>
<p>Ethan set the diaper bag on his desk and then approached his team at the conference table. He paced in front of the table as he tried to focus on discussing their new intake, but Joss’s loud cries muffled their voices. Suddenly, without any warning, the room grew silent. Ethan looked down at her and saw her glistening eyes on Baz, who was making funny faces at her. She giggled and moved her hands as if she was about to clap. Aurora hid her laughter behind her hand. </p>
<p>Ethan rolled his eyes and dismissed his team to go meet with the patient. He couldn’t stand witnessing another person make his own daughter happy. Each and every time made him feel as if his own daughter wanted nothing to do with him. </p>
<p>Just like clockwork, Joss began fussing and crying the moment Baz and Aurora left. </p>
<p>Ethan continued pacing around the room, rubbing her back, trying to plead with her to stop crying… to <em>love him</em>. He finally gave up and sat at his desk with her in his lap. Her cries echoed in his ears like a nightmare he wished he could wake up from. </p>
<p>He felt a lump forming in the back of his throat and his face flood with heat. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. He had nothing left but to submit to the tormenting helplessness that made his heart feel as heavy as a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean.</p>
<p>He took one long, deep breath, and when he released it, Joss stopped crying. Ethan opened his eyes and was met with her matching blues, which had grown wide and round and soft like the color of a clear, summer sky. </p>
<p>“Hello, sweetheart.” He nuzzled the tip of his nose against hers, and she responded with an infectious giggle. He continued with the gesture until she broke out in a full, hearty laugh.</p>
<p>Unaware of the time, he heard a voice cut through the laughter. “You ready, little Jossy?” Alan asked as he entered. But his granddaughter was focused on her dad. She held his gaze and patted his cheeks with her baby-soft hands, while happily cooing in a sing-song. </p>
<p>“Not yet, Dad,” Ethan said, smiling as his heart filled with the sight of her. “Not yet.”</p>
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